Baltic Railways
Baltic Railways AS, known as Baltic Railways, is a state owned company which runs passenger train operation in the Baltic Union, specially in the former Baltic Republics where is responsible for most passenger train operations. Cargo transport and railway maintenance are outside its scope. The company is controlled by the Baltic Union Ministry of Transport and Communications. Baltic Railways runs a number of subsidiaries: *'B-train', a commuter rail system that operate in some cities *'UHS', the only operator of the Union High Speed Railway System *'Airport Railways', the company in charge of the lines linking the most important airports History Following the formation of Baltic Union, the government inherited a number of state railway companies in the former republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Due to the urgent need to modernize and restructure the railways in the new provinces the government decided to unite all existing state-owned companies in a large company capable of taking the necessary modernization. The current company was established on 31 December 2005 in Riga as result of that decision. During the following years the company carried out an ambitious plan to modernize its rolling stock and becoming one of the best positioned companies in the national railway market. Services Baltic Railways operates different kind of train services: *'BRR' (Baltic Railways Regional): Stops at all stations. *'BRC' (Baltic Railways Commuter): Same as BRR, but organized as a network around the major cities, with several lines and generally more frequent service. *'BRE' (Baltic Railways Express): Its speed is considerably faster than regional trains at the same level, as it does not stop at all stations served by the regional trains. *'BRI' (Baltic Railways Intercity): BRI trains operates routes from mid to long distance with stops only at major stations. BRI trains can reach velocities over 200 km/h in Standard Union Double Track. They have businees class avaliable. Eastern Baltic Provinces Mid range services *'Vilnius - Kybartai' (BRR services) *'Vilnius - Rezekne' (BRR services) *'Vilnius - Klaipeda' (BRR, BRE and BRI services) *'Vilnius - Siaulai' (BRR and BRE services) *'Kaunas - Siaulai' (BRR and BRE services) *'Riga - Vilnius' (BRE and BRI services) *'Riga - Ventspils' (BRR and BRE services) *'Riga - Liepaja' (BRR and BRE services) *'Riga - Daugavpils' (BRR and BRE services) *'Riga - Zilupe' (BRR and BRE services) *'Riga - Gulbene' (BRR and BRE services) *'Riga - Valga' (BRR and BRE services) *'Riga - Siauliai' (BRR and BRE services) *'Riga - Tallinn' (BRE and BRI services) *'Tallinn - Tartu' (BRR and BRE services) *'Tallinn - Parnu' (BRR and BRE services) *'Tallinn - Narva' (BRR, BRE and BRI services) Short range services *'Siauliai - Klaipeda' (BRC services) *'Vilnius - Kaunas' (BRC services) *'Vilnius - Jonava' - Kaunas (BRC services) *'Vilnius - Marciukonys' (BRC services) *'Kaunas - Kybartay' (BRC services) *'Kaunas - Sestokay' (BRC services) *'Riga - Renge' (BRC services) *'Riga - Tukums' (BRC services) *'Riga - Aizkraukle' (BRC and BRE services) *'Riga - Cesis' (BRC services) *'Tartu - Orava - Valga' (BRC services) *'Tapa - Narva' (BRC services) Rolling stock In recent years the company has undertaken an ambitious plan to replace or upgrade the old rolling sotck inherited from the communist era. With the collaboration of RVR all the existing ER2 and ER9 EMUs have been refurbished and upgraded to ER2.21 and ER9.21. At the same time, new units have been purchased to modernize the fleet and adapt to new service needs. Locomotives *8 ER30. Diesel locomotive manufactured in Germany by SIEMENS. Used in BRR services and mainly as auxiliary and recovery locomotive. *6 ES 64U. Electric locomotive manufactured in Germany by SIEMENS. Used in BRR services and mainly as auxiliary and recovery locomotive. *14 RVRTRAC 3800 Hybrid. Dual electric-diesel locomotive manufactured by RVR. *8 M62 Ex CCCP used as shunter. *6 CHME3 Ex CCCP used as shunter. EMUs *48 BRR ESD03. Baltic Railways designation for ER2.21 EMU manufactured by RVR. Used in BRR services. *32 BRR ESD04. Baltic Railways designation for ER9.21 EMU manufactured by RVR. Used in BRR and BRE services. *8 BRC DD01. Baltic Railways designation for Class 47 EMU manufactured by Škoda Works in NGE. Used in BRC services. *16 BRR ESD05. Baltic Railways designation for the new ER11' EMU manufactured by RVR. Used in BRC and BRE services. There are new units ordered to reach 48 units in 2014. DMUs *12 BRR DSD05. Baltic Railways designation for DR1B DMU manufactured by RVR. Used in BRR and BRE services. *16 BRR DSD06. Baltic railways designation for the new DR13 DMU manufactured by RVR. Used in BRR and BRE services. There is new units on order to reach 32 units in 2014 and tu substitute all the BRR DSD05. Intercities *10 IC SD01. Baltic Railways designation for the Regina Train manufactured in Baltic Union by the Everett based company Bombardier. Used in BRI services. *10 IC SD02. Baltic Railways designation for the IC1 intercity train manufactured by RVR. 12 more units ordered until 2015. It is used in BRI services and when the acquisition progran will finished it will be serve some BRE services too. B-train B-train is a railway operator offering commuter services over the metropolitan rail network of Vilinius and Riga, Baltic Union. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Baltic Railways. It connects the city centesr with the inner suburbs, and has one third of the stations within the urban city. The system is complemented by the city trams and an extensive bus network. Although owned by different companies, there are interchangeable tickets and the city's bus and tram terminals are often located adjacent to an B-train station. In the city centers, the trains run below ground level on some parts. Outside the inner city it runs in the open, often on embankments. B-train services are often complementaries to those offered by its paren company Baltic Railways. Routes *'BV1', from Vilnius center to Valkininkal *'BV2', from Vilnius center to Vievis *'BV3', from Vilnius center to Bezdonys *'BV4', from Vilnius center to Kena *'BV5', circular line joining Vilnius center - Paneriai - Lentvaris - Paneriai - Valciunay - Kiviskes - Vilnius center *'BR1', from Riga to Jelgava *'BR2', from Riga to Tukums *'BR3', from Riga to Aizkraukle *'BR4', from Riga to Sigulda *'BR5', from Riga to Skulte Rolling stock Locomotives *6 ER30. Diesel locomotive manufactured in Germany by SIEMENS. Used in BRR services and mainly as auxiliary and recovery locomotive. *10 CHME3 Ex CCCP used as shunter. EMUs *32 BRR ESD03. Baltic Railways designation for ER2.21 EMU manufactured by RVR. *8 BRC DD01. Baltic Railways designation for Class 47 EMU manufactured by Škoda Works in NGE. DMUs *12 BRR DSD06. Baltic Railways designation for new DR13 DMU manufactured by RVR. UHS Operations Union High Speed (UHS) is a service of high-speed trains operating at speeds of up to 300 km/h on dedicated track in Baltic Union. Baltic Ariways operates the UHS) service from Oslo to Stockholm. Oslo - Stockholm UHS The line Oslo - Stockholm was the first UHS) service in operaion and consists in a UHS) track of 540 km joining Oslo with Stockholm with stops at at Kil and Västeras. Services Baltic Railways offers two kind of services, with stops at Kil and Västeras and Oslo - Stockholm non stop. Both services are with business and tourist class. The trains have a restaurant, free wifi internet acces and offer video on board. Business class offers free meals and press as well as a private lounge at the stations. *''Non stop services'': 2 daily services in both directions. *''Regular service'': 8 daily services in both directions. Rolling stock * 14 Zefiro 300 High Speed Trains manufactured by the Everett based Bombardier traveling at a maximum speed of 360 km/h. Airport Railways Following the formation of the Union and the reorganization of rail transport, the government decided to create a company to manage the railway lines linking the two cities with their respective airports. Arlanda Express was nationalized and merged with Flytoget creating a new company called Airport Railways, a wholly owned subsidiary of Baltic Railways. The Arlanda Line The Arlanda Line connects the city center of Stockholm, at Stockholm Central Station, to Stockholm-Arlanda Airport. At the airport, the train serves to stations: Arlanda South Station serves terminals 2, 3 and 4, while Arlanda North station serves terminal 5. From Stockholm to Rosersberg, the train follows the East Coast Line, and from there to the airport, the Arlanda Line. The train normally operates four times every hour, but during rush hour this is increased to five times per hour. Rolling stock The Arlanda Line is operated by seven four-car Alstom X3 electric multiple units. The units were built by Alstom's Birmingham plant in 1998 and 1999. The train consists of two powered end units and two unpowered center cars. The trains have a maximum speed of 200 kilometres per hour and a maximum power output of 2,240 kilowatts. They are 93 metres long and weigh 187 tonnes. Each car has two doors on each side, and the train has a total seating for 190 passengers. There is a baggage area beside each door, and a handicap seating place and toilet in the middle of the train. The Arlanda Express' three stations have a special platform height that allows level access to the trains from the platforms. The Gardemoen Line The Gardemoen Line is a high-speed airport rail link connecting Oslo Airport, Gardermoen to Oslo Central Station. Departures operate every ten minutes from Oslo Central Station (Oslo S) to the airport. Half of the trains originate in Drammen, making five intermediate stops before Oslo S, and again at Lillestrøm. The other half go directly from Oslo S to Gardermoen. Rolling sotck The line operates sixteen Class 71 three-car electric multiple units delivered in 1997–98, and built domestically by Adtranz at Strømmen based on carbodies built in Adtranz factory in Kalmar. The Class 71 are nearly identical to the NSB Class 73, save the 71-series lacking one car and tilting mechanism, and a different interior. Both have chosen to not use the original locomotive design, instead installing one powered bogie in each car. The 71-series is built for a maximum operating speed of 210 kilometres per hour. Category:Kalmar Union Category:Companies of Kalmar Union Category:Companies